The 1984 campaign was nothing if not enthusiastic. A member of my staff who’s been reviewing some of the videotapes of the campaign asked me the other day if you can feel an audience’s adulation. I said that, yes, you could…So then he said, "Well, how do you handle it?" I said, "I pray that I will be deserving." I always tried to remember that; otherwise the power goes to your head, and the history books are littered with such unsavory people.

Now the other thing that I always tried to remember was to campaign as if I was one vote behind. Because if you think you’re going to win, you won’t do what you need to do. In the ’84 convention speech, I think it shows I was running pretty hard and taking nothing for granted. I went after my opponent and his fellow Democrats. You have to draw the line so people will know who you are and what you value.